Partick Thistle's Ian McCall bows to Celtic's quality

By David Walton

September 26, 2019

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall has admitted Celtic were just far too good for his side last night.

It was McCall’s first game back in charge after only being appointed manager on Monday. The Firhill club dismissed Gary Caldwell previously, and sit bottom of the Scottish Championship.

It was always going to be an acid test for McCall at Parkhead. He had led Ayr United to second in the Championship this season after an impressive start. However, this was always going to prove too much of a step-up for him to get a result.

Ian McCall had no joy on his return to Partick Thistle (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Celtic ran out 5-0 winners in convincing fashion. And McCall, speaking to Partick’s official website post-match, admitted his side were just outclassed.

“It was a good first half but I knew Lenny would have a go at them at half-time and losing the goals so early in the second half killed us. The scoreline didn’t flatter Celtic, you just need things to go for you and a couple of moments went against us instead of for us.

“After their start to the second half it was just a case of getting through the game with no injuries ahead of Saturday and we managed that.

“It was great to be back in a Thistle dugout but Celtic just have so much quality, so there’s no complaints.”

Partick had their moments last night

Yes, Celtic ran out comfortable winners in the end. It was an extremely positive result for us to continue our fine domestic momentum. However, there were still some shaky moments in the match.

Craig Gordon came up big to deny Shea Gordon in one particular moment. It was a big save from the Celtic back-up shot-stopper. However, the score at the time was only 1-0, and it could’ve made a big difference in how the game panned out.

Celtic dealt with Partick Thistle in convincing fashion (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

But in the end, McCall is spot on. There was likely nothing his team could’ve done against that kind of quality. Partick have been in crisis for the last couple of weeks. Considering they sit bottom of the Championship, they didn’t show a lack of confidence going forward.

It was a wake-up call for the backline at times. But Neil Lennon made eight changes to the side that beat Kilmarnock 3-1 on Sunday. Slight errors were to be expected.

McCall was in good spirits last night (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

McCall clearly accepted for some time that his side weren’t going to dent Celtic here. He’ll be disappointed with the result, but it’s good to see he’s big enough to notice that it was deserved.

It’ll be intriguing to see how well he does with the Caley Jags. But as for Celtic, we continue to roll on and attract admirers with our swashbuckling football.